Auditor-General Andrew Richardson advises Parliament of delays to new RAH’s troubled $422m computer system
A TROUBLED $422 million computer system critical to the operation of the new Royal Adelaide Hospital remains behind schedule and faces significant “challenges” to be ready in time for the facility’s expected opening next April.
A TROUBLE-plagued $422 million computer system critical to the operation of the new Royal Adelaide Hospital remains behind schedule and faces significant “challenges” to be ready in time for the facility’s expected opening next April, a new report has found.
Auditor-General Andrew Richardson on Tuesday delivered an update to State Parliament on the new electronic records management system, which is already running behind time and over budget.
SA Health boasts the Enterprise Patient Administration System will be the “foundation” for future management of patient records, allowing doctors and medical staff instant access to information which would be used for rapid diagnosis and the design of treatments.
The new RAH has been built without specific storage space for old paper records, meaning operation of the new hospital will be compromised if the system is not ready when it opens.
Mr Richardson says failure to deploy EPAS at the current RAH for trial, as previously expected, means workers will struggle to use it properly when introduced to the new hospital.
There are also problems with the billing system, putting the Government at risk of lost revenue.
“Challenges experienced by the EPAS program can be partially attributed to the original plan having ambitious time frames and an underestimation of effort required to implement EPAS at a major hospital site,” Mr Richardson writes.
“Challenges still remain, including ensuring system readiness for the RAH.”
Despite several previous EPAS budget blowouts, the report more may be to come.
“Audit has also noted other functional issues that may require additional expenditure to deliver the solution required,” Mr Richardson states. “The remaining budget may not be sufficient.”
Opposition health spokesman Stephen Wade said: “There are serious concerns that EPAS won’t be ready for the opening of RAH, increasing stress on staff and undermining patient safety”.
An SA Health spokesman insisted the project was on track to be ready for the new hospital.
“Large complex IT transformation programs, across all industries, have risks and issues to be managed,” the spokesman said. “The Auditor-General notes that over the past twelve months many improvements have been made to the EPAS Program.
“EPAS is currently used by more than 5000 staff across seven sites, including Noarlunga Hospital, Port Augusta Hospital and SA Ambulance headquarters.
“We made a decision in April this year to concentrate our resources on implementing EPAS directly into the new Royal Adelaide Hospital in 2016
“We remain on track to do this.
“In making that decision, of course we realise that the expected financial benefits will not be realised as quickly as originally forecast.
“However, in the long run we believe our patients will be better off.”
It is understood alternative record management strategies are being developed to ensure further delays in the roll out of EPAS do not prevent the new RAH from opening on time.
The Government says it has had no notification construction of the hospital will run late. However, it is widely expected the new RAH opening will be pushed back to at least July.